Paper doll structure



Sept. 3, 1963 w. v. DOYLE ET AL 3,102,360

PAPER DOLL STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 11, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VEN TORS. ZZ/zlZZiam ZJDo Z flafgarefliylq W, 5% y 2M @9 W Sept. 3, 1963 w. v. DOYLE ETAL PAPER DOLL STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 11, 1959 INVENTORS.

fimg 133% Y retfl gg Sept. 5 w. v. DOYLE ETAL 3,102,360

PAPER DOLL. STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 11, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ZUdZz'amZJDa 22 fla 'garezfflfl United States Patent r 3,102,360 PAPER DOLL STRUCTURE William V. Doyle and Margaret D. Doyle, both of 5323 Washbuln Ave. S., Minneapolis 10, Minn. Filed Sept. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 839,391 12 Claims. (Cl. 46157) The present invention relates to a paper doll structure, and more particularly to such a structure involving a doll form and garments therefor incorporating novel and improved means for connecting together parts of free-standing portions of the form, means providing a bottom stand, or base, for upright positioning of the form, and means for attaching garments to the form.

We have heretofore provided a novel paper doll structure in which a doll form or body has secured thereto a back piece of corresponding configuration and providing adjacent the edge of the doll form a peripheral channel, groove, or slot for retainingly receiving the usual tabs provided on the edges of garments for such dolls. The back piece in such a doll may be imprinted or otherwise provided with a representation of a back of a figure corresponding to the front of the figure as commonly represented on the front of the body or form. In such doll construction, we have also provided base, or stand, constructions of particular value for such dolls, as well as garments particularly adapted for use with the dolls and also providing both front and back representations of clothing.

Our present invention relates to the foregoing type of doll construction, but is concerned specifically'with certain structural arrangements of the doll form and back piece relating to the securement thereof at the bottom in a manner to provide a base or stand, and also for securing togetherarrn and hand portions thereof, which extend in spaced relation to the body, or other freestanding portions of the doll structure. Our invention relates also to the provision of improved securing tabs on garments for such dolls, which tabs effect attachment of the garment to the doll at points impossible with the ordinary garment securing tabs, as for example where the edge of the doll form and the edge of the garment on which the tab is formed extend at a substantial angle to each other, or in a substantially non-parallel relation. While we refer to paper dolls and paper doll clothing it will be understood that other flexible materials could be used.

It is an important object of the invention to provide for use with a doll form garments which have improved means for securing the garments on the form. More specifically, it is an object to provide a garment with a tab structure specifically adapted to underlie the edge portion of the paper, or like, doll and to have a portion extending other than perpendicular to the edge of the garment from which the tab structure extends.

Another object is the provision in a paper doll structure of a doll form with a clothing-retaining back piece having a configuration substantially corresponding at least in part to the form, in which correspondingrend portions of the form and back piece (such as hands) standing free of the body portion may be detachably connected together in a simple and secure manner avoid: ing the use of adhesive or other permanent fastening, and one which avoids marring of the observed surface of the form and back piece and their end portions.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a paper, or like, doll structure in which a doll form and the garment-retaining back piece secured thereon have corresponding free-standing hand portions detachably connected by means serving to space the hand portions ice properly for attachment of articles to simulate grasping thereof by a hand.

Another object is the provision of a paper, or like, doll structure with a doll form and a back piece of corresponding shape secured thereto adjacent the top thereof and in which structure securement of the bottom of the back piece to the form, and the provision of a supporting base or stand for the structure, are achieved by interengagement of portions of the back piece with the form.

It is another object to provide a paper, or like, doll structure, including a doll form and a back piece of corresponding shape secured thereto, in which the bottom of the back piece and form are secured together, and a supporting stand provided for the structure, by tabs struck from the back piece engaging with the form at points so located as to avoid interference with the feet represented on the doll form or on the back piece.

Still another object is the provision of a paper or like doll structure including a doll form and a back piece of corresponding shape in which these parts are secured together at the bottom, and a supporting base or stand provided for the structure, by means extending forwardly through the foot portion of the form at the central part thereof to avoid widening of the foot portion, where the feet of the form and the back piece are represented as spaced apart. 7

Other and further objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the ant from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevationa'l View of one embodiment of a paper doll structure according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a rear elevational view of the doll structure shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevational view taken substantially as indicated by the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2, and showing'one of the hand connections of the structure;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the hand connections substantially as shown in FIGURE 2, but in disassembled relation;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 1, but show ing another embodiment of the paper doll structure of the invention; I

FIGURE 6 is a rear elevational view of the embodiment of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view on an enlarged scale, taken substantially as indicated by line 77 of FIGURE 5, showing one of the hand connections of the doll structure in the assembled or interlocked relation;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the hand connection of FIGURE 7, but with the parts in disassembled relation;

FIGURE 9 is a bottom plan view of the doll struc ture of FIGURES 5 and 6, taken substantially as indi cated by the line 99 of FIGURE 6, to illustrate the interconnection of the front and back pieces and the intel-mediate spacing means and the stand provided thereby;

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially as indicated by the line IO-10 of FIGURE 6, to show the bottom interlock and stand arrangement;

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing the bottom portion of a doll structure accordmg to the invention, incorporating a stand similar to that employed in the embodiment of FIGURE 1, but employing a somewhat different arrangement of the parts;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the bottom stand construction of, FIGURE 11;

FIGURE 13 is a bottom plan view of the stand structure of FIGURE 11 FIGURE 14 is a rear elevational view of the construction shown in FIGURE 11;

FIGURE 15 is a front elevational view of a doll structure similar to that of FIGURE 1, but incorporating therein .an improved garment construction according to the invention; and

- FIGURE 16 is a plan view of the garment construction incorporated in the-doll structure of FIGURE 15.

Referring first to FIGURES 1 to 4, inclusive, of the drawings, there is shown a paper doll structure generally indicated at 20 which comprises a doll body or form 21 which may be. formed of cardboard or other suitable material, and has imprinted or otherwise suitably depicted thereon ahuman face and figure as indicated at 22. In the present instance, the doll body or form 21 is illustrated as having both arms 23 extending-away from the torso so that the hands 24 are spaced from the torso, or as sometimes referred to hereafter, are freestanding. As best shown in FIGURES 2 and 4, each of the hands 24 of the doll form 21 has an extension 25 preferably integral therewith, and hinged thereto along a fold line 26 so that it may be doubled behind the hand portion 24, the extension 25 conforming to the dimensions and shape of the hand portion adjacent its connection thereto, but being somewhat smaller at its free end portion. A slot 27 is formed in the edge of the extension 25 at approximately the central portion thereof, it being noted that the slot 27 in each case opens away from the torso of the doll form 21, or in other words is formed in the edge of the extension 25 which is farther from the torso. In other words, the slot 27 in the left hand extension 25 opens to the left, and the slot in the right hand extension opens to the right, of the doll. Defined between the line of the slot 27 and the outer free edge of the extension 25 is an end portion 28 which has already indicated may be of the general shape of the part of the hand on which it lies, but is preferably of somewhat smaller size. I

The doll form 21 has a straight bottom edge from which extend a pair of parallel vertical slots 29 located in the central portion of the bottom edge and spaced sufiiciently close together to avoid interference with the feet of the figure depicted on the body form, which as will be evident from FIGURE 1 are shown .as slightly spaced or spread apart from each other.

With the back of the doll form 21 there is associated a back piece 30 which in the present instance is shown as a. piece of cardboard or other suitable material cut to conform to the shape of the doll body or form, but of slightly smaller size in all but the bottom portions thereof so as to. leave a marginal flange or lip 31 of the doll form 21 projecting outwardly of the back piece 30 throughout substantially the. entire peripheral portions of the form and back piece. The back piece 30 is secured to the form 21 by means, at. the top and bottom portions thereof, and at the free standing hand portions. The top portion connection is provided by an elongated tongue 32 integrally hinged to the top of the form 21 as indicated at 33, and having I311 enlarged free end 34 :for engages ment; in a T-shaped opening 35 in the back piece 30, as will be clear from FIGURE 2. The insertion of the. enlarged head portion 34 of the tongue 32 is made through the widest part of opening 35 and, when head portion 34 is raised, it then lies between the back piece 30 and the doll form 21. Head 34.therefore also serves to space the doll body 211 from the back piece to simplify the insertion between them of tabs on the garments.

The bottom portion of the back piece 30 preferably corresponds; in size and contour with the bottom portion of the dollbody or form 21, and incorporates means for connecting together the form and the back piece. For this. purpose, a pair of tabs 36 (FIGURE 1) are formed from the back piece by partial severan-ce therefrom, as

along lines 37 (FIGURE 2) to give any desired shape to the tabs. The tabs are hingedly connected to the bottom portion by integral hinge portions 38 extending vertically upwardly from the bottom edge of the back piece for :a distance not greater than the depth of the vertical slots 29 of the doll body or form 21, The portions of the tabs 36 above the hinge portions 38 are preferably cut away to provide slots (not shown) opening downward from the upper edges thereof to accommodate the bottom portion of the doll form 21, the upper portions of the tabs extending upwardly above the closed ends of the slot 29. The tabs are located so that the hinge portions 38 thereof substantially register with hinge portion 38 being received in the slots 29, and the vertical slot in the tabs receiving the portions of the body portion of the doll form 21 immediately above the slot 29, as will be evident from FIGURES 1 and 2.

The end portions of the bottom portion of the back piece 30, outwardly of the tabs 36, are employed as supporting legs or wings 39 merely by being folded on vertical fold or hinge lines to project rearwardly of the back piece 30, as shown in FIGURE 2, the material of the back piece being cut as at 40 if necessary to permit such folding of the lateral end portions. When folded to project from the back piece 30, the legs or wings 39 serve to hold the doll structure in substantially upright position on appr-opriate supporting surfaces. The tabs 36, in addition to securing the doll form and b ack piece together at the bottom portions thereof, cooperate with the wings 39 to support the doll in vertical position, and tend to prevent the doll from toppling over forwardly as for example when inadvertent-1y pushed from the rear. The bottom edges of the tabs 36 and wings 39 lie in a common plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of the doll body and back piece. It will be noted that the tabs are relatively small, and this small size of the tabs together with the location of the slots and tabs at the central portion of the bottom of the doll body or form 21 avoids any detraction from the appearance of the doll, since the spaced feet are not obscured or marred.

The back piece 30 has arm portions 41 generally corresponding to the arms 23 of the doll body 21, and hand elements 42 at the free ends of the arm portions formed for cooperation with the doll bodyor form as 24 and the extensions 25 thereof. The hand elements 42 preferably are formed to correspond more or less with the contour of the doll form hands 24, but the dimensions and shapes thereof are such that in their cooperating relation with the hands 24 they do not project beyond the edges thereof, so that they are notvisible from the front of the doll. Each of the hand elements 42 has a slot 43 therein opening in the opposite direction from the. slot 27 of the adjacent hand extension 25; that is,

it opens in the direction of the representation of the torso of the doll. A free end portion 44 is defined in the hand element by [the line of the slot 43.

As best illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, the hand elements 42 are connected to the hands 24 by folding of the hand extensions 25 on the line 26 so as to lie behind the hands 24, and sliding the free end portions 44 of the elements 42 between the hand 24 and the extensions 25, the slots 27 and 43 inter-engaging to receive the material of the respective parts at the closed ends of the slots 43 and 27, respectively. The free end portions 28 of the extensions 25 are disposed between the hand elements 42 and the hands 24, so as to lie substantially in the same plane as the free end portion 44 of the hand elements 42. It will be readily seen that the respective end portions serve to space (the hands and the arm portions to make insertion of clothing tabs easier. It will be evident that the interlock or connection between the hands 24 of the doll form and the hand elements 42 of the back piece may readily be accomplished by reason of the flexibility and resilience of the material and the corresponding location of the several parts for ready registration and interconnection. The connections of the hands of the doll form 21 to the hand elements 42 of the back piece 36 serve not only to secure the back piece to the :doll form at free standing portions thereof, but also to effect another purpose explained hereinafter.

The back piece 30 cooperates with the doll body or form for the securement of doll garments or other articles, edge tabs on the garments or articles of clothing being bent to extend between the body and back piece, the projection or lip 31 of the body providing convenient means for separating the body and back piece to facilitate insertion of the clothing tabs therebetween, and also for guiding the tabs between the body and back piece, in accordance with the paper doll construction which we have heretofore provided, as previously explained. It is to be noted that the back piece might be otherwise secured to or associated with the doll body or form than by the attaching or connecting means herein specifically disclosed, and that the marginal projection, flange, or lip 31 need not be provided. The hand portion connections illustrated and described serve not only for the securement of the back piece to the doll form or body 21, but allow the attachment of suitable articles of clothing or accessories, such as the purse or hand bag H or the scarf S shown in FIGURE 1, to the doll by direct engagement of a portion thereof between the hands 24 and hand elements 42 to simulate the carrying thereof by the doll figure, without the need for provision of tabs and the insertion of the tabs between the back piece and doll form, as will be evident.

In FIGURES toinclusive, there is shown another embodiment of a doll structure according to the present invention, diiferening in certain respects from the embodiment shown in FIGURES l to 4. In this embodiment, the doll structure, generally designated 56, comprises a front doll body, or front doll form, 51 and a back piece, or rear doll body or form, 52, the front and rear forms 51 and 52 being substantially identical 111 size and contour and adapted to overlie each other in substantially exact registration. On the front doll form depicted the face and front of a figure, as indicated at 53, while on the rear doll body or form 52, or back piece, there is printed or otherwise depicted the back of the head and figure in correspondence to the face and front of the figure represented on the front doll body or form 51, as indicated at 54 and shown in FIGURE 6. The front and rear doll forms 51 and 52 may conveniently be formed from a single sheet of cardboard or other appropriate material having the requisite properties, to facilitate the cutting, scoring, and printing or other operations in the forming thereof. In such case, the two doll forms may be integrally hinged together at the top or head portions thereof as at 55. It will be understood, of course, that if desired the two forms may be made as separate parts and hinged or other-wise attached together by any appropriate means;

The front and rear doll forms 51 and 52 in th1s instance are held in slightly spaced relation from each other to facilitate insertion of the bendable tabs on articles of clothing therebetween, this spacing or separation being effected by a narrow spacer 56 which has a bottom portion 57 corresponding substantially to the bottom portions of the front and rear body forms 51 and 52, and employed to secure those bottom portions securely together and to provide a stand for supporting the structure in upright position. From the bottom portion '57, the spacer 56 extends upwardly generally centrally of the front and rear forms and following the general curvature thereof, to a point adjacent the neck and shoulders, as clearly shown in dotted lines in FIGURES 5 and 6. The bottom portion 57 of the spacer 56 has formed centrally thereof in slightly spaced relation to its bottom edge a horizontal slot 58, and at its opposite ends is cut along lines 59 to provide a pair of wings 60 connected to the bottom portion 57 by hinge portions 61 (FIGURE 9) extending upwardly from the straight bottom edge of the spacer 56 to a point intermediate the height of the wings 60', the wings having upwardly opening slots 62 (FIGURE 10) formed therein above the hinge portions 61. A pair of vertical slots extending upwardly from the bottom edge of the front body form 51 define a tongue, or tab, 63 which is received through the slot 58 to lie between the bottom portion 57 of the spacer 56 and the rear doll body or form 52, as will be clear from- FIGURES 5, 6, 9 and 10. Extending upwardly from the bottom edge of the rear body form 52 at locations corresponding to those of the hinge portions 61 of the wings 60 are a pair of slots 64 of sufficient height to accommodate the hinge portions when the bottom edge of the spacer bottom portion 57 is disposed in registration with the bottom edges of the front and rear body forms. The Wings 69 are folded to extend rearwardly substantially at right angles from the spacer bottom portion 57, with the portions thereof adjacent the hinge portions 61 and below the slots 62 received in the slots 64 of the rear doll form or back piece, and with the slots 62 thereof receiving the material of the bottom portion of the rear doll form 52 immediately above the slots 64. It will thus be apparent that by means of the inter-engagement of the parts of the bottom portion 57 of the spacer 56 with the front and rear doll forms 51 and 52, these forms are secured together at the bottom thereof in a simple and readily operable manner, and may just as readily be disassembled when desired. The wings 60 provide a firm stand construction, in conjunction with the bottom edges of the front and rear doll forms and of the spacer portion 57 to support the doll in upright position. It will be noted that the central tongue and slot connection between the front doll form and the spacer 56 occupies only :a small portion of the surface area of the bottom of the structure, and thus avoids any interference with or marring of the representation of the spaced apart feet of the depicted front figure 53.

The front doll form has arms 65 and hands 66 extending free of and spaced from the torso, and the rear doll form 52 has corresponding arms 67 and hands 68, as will be apparent from FIGURES 5 and 6. Each of the hands 66 has an extension 69 hingedly connected, thereto by a hinge portion 70 extending for a portion of the width thereof, the extent of the hinge portion 70 being limited by the provision of a slot 71 substantially in alignment with the hinge portion and extending inwardly from the edge of the hand and extension which is remote from or directed away from the torso. The hands 68 have extensions 72 generally similar to the extensions 69, hinge portions 73 connecting the extensions to the hands 68, and slots 74 in substantial alignment with the hinge port1ons which are formed generally along the line between the hands 68 and extensions 72, the slots 74 opening in opposition to the slots 71 of the hands 65 and extensions 69 of the front doll form 51, or in other words opening in the direction of the torso. To provide the interlock or connection between the hands 65 and 68, the extensions 69 are folded back to general parallelism with the hands 65 and concealed thereby from the front, and the extensions 72 correspondingly are folded forwardly so as to be doubled behind and concealed from the rear by the hands 68, as will be evident from FIGURE 8 in particular. It is then only necessary to position the hands 65 and 68 so that the former is inwardly of the latter, or in other words closer to the torso, and then move the hand 68 relative to the hand 65 so that the respective slots 71 and 74 are inter-engaged and receive therein the hinge portions 73 and 70 respectively. In the case of the left hand of the doll as shown in FIGURE 8, the movement 7 of the hand 68 relative to the hand 66 is indicated by the arrow. 7

It will be' apparent that the connection between the hands of the front and rear doll forms 51 and 52 is particularly adapted to a doll structure in which the back piece takes the form of a rear doll body or doll form, and while serving all the purposes of the back piece 30 of the doll structure as shown in FIGURES l to 4, provides an improved and more realistic appearance in that it provides a rear figure or form as well as a front one, and permits clothing to be provided which covers the rear of the doll as well as the front. By means of the extensions 69 and 72 inter-engaged with each other and disposed between the front hands 66 and rear hands 68, the appearance of the hands is not marred or detracted from, and suitable articles of clothing or accessories may be secured to the hands in a manner realistically simulating grasping thereby without the need for tabs thereon to be inserted between the front. and back forms, although as in the case of the structure of FIGURES 1 to 4 the usual tab arrangement may be employed if desired. The disposition of the extensions 69 and 72 between the corresponding hands 66 land 68 provides a spacing between the front and rear doll bodies or forms adjacent the hands which facilitates insertion of the tabs of garments therebetween, in the same manner that the spacer 56 accomplishes this result. The tendency of the inherent resilience of the material to cause the extensions 69 and 72 to force the hands 66 and 68 apart may readily be overcome in any appropriate manner. In the present instance, this is done by forming each of the hinge portions 70 and 73 by means, of a plurality of score or fold lines, so that these portions are of substantial width, and by correspondingly making the slots 71 and 74 of sutficient width to receive the respective hinge portions without any appreciable resulting tension on the extensions.

It may be pointed out that in both embodiments of the invention so far described, the connections of the front doll form and the back piece, whether [of the type of the. back piece '30, or of the rear doll form 52, is effected at the hand in a simple and easy manner, and disassembly is readily accomplished when desired, yet the possibility of the hand connections becoming disassembled in some unintentional, manner is practically non-existent. That is, manipulation of the doll as in applying or removing artioles of clothing or the like [does not cause the hand connections to pull loose. This is. due in part to the cutting of the slots, in the manner described, which requires the hand of the front doll form to be moved inwardly relative. to the torso, that is the left hand must be moved to the right and the right hand to the left. Thus, the disengaging movement of one hand is resisted by the other. Furthermore, once the front doll form and the back piece or rear doll form are connected at the top and bottom and at the free end portions, relative movement of these parts in a sliding manner is so largely prevented that the necessary relative movement between the parts of the hand connections is not achievable.

In FIGURES 11 to- 14, inclusive, there is illustrated another embodiment of the invention in which a connection between the front idoll body or form and a back piece such as the back piece 30 previously described is provided which is similar to that illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 4, but has certain differences therefrom in both construction and results. The bottom connection and stand construction illustrated in FIGURES ill to 14 is shown as incorporated in a doll structure generally designated 80, only the bottom portion thereof requiring illustration. The structure comprises a doll body .or doll form 81 similar to the body or form 21 previously describe-d, having suitably depicted thereon a human or other figure, as indicated at 82. A back piece 83 similar to the previously-described back piece 30 is provided which is secured to the doll form 81 at the head or other upper portions thereof in any suitable manner (not shown), the bottom portion of the back tions folded about vertical lines to form securing tabs 84 which may project forwardly from the back piece in substantially perpendicular relation thereto. The tabs 84 have slots 85 formed therein extending downwardly from the upper portion thereof adjacent the lines of fold, the

slots 85 terminating short of the bottomedge of the back a piece to leave hinge portions 86 by which the tabs remain joined to the back piece. These slotted tabs interengage with the bottom portion of the doll form 81 by means of downwardly opening slots 87 extending upwardly from the bottom edge of the bottom of the form 81 in alignment with the hinge portions 86 and of a height sufficient to receive the hinge portions therein with the bottom edges of the back piece and doll form substantially aligned. When the tabs 84 are folded forwardly and interengaged with the bottom portion of the doll form by means of the cooperating slots 85- and 87, the back piece 83 and the doll body or form 81 are securely joined together at the bottom thereof.

The back piece 83 also has formed therefrom a pair of legs or wings 88 adapted to be folded to extend rearwardly therefrom. The wings are formed from the material of the back piece 83 between the tabs 84, and at substantially the central portion of the back piece, by means of suitable cuts along the lines indicated at .89, and hingedly connected to the back piece at lines of fold indicated at 90, which preferably extend throughout the full height of the wings 88 from the bottom edge of the back piece 83. The wings 88 when folded to extend rearwardly provide a stable support or stand which holds the doll upright, the tabs 84 projecting forwardly through the doll form 81 cooperating with the wings 38 in providing such stable support.

It will be apparent that the construction of FIGURES 1-1 to 14 is similar to the stand and interlock employed in the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to 4, but provides the forwardly projecting interlocking and supporting tabs adjacent the ends of the bottom of the structure. By this arrangement, the tabs 84 are disposed laterally outwardly of the representation of the feet of a figure, such as indicated at .82 in FIGURE 11, which are shown at the central portion of the bottom of the doll structure, and thus the tabs avoid obscuring the feet or marring the printing or other representation thereof. The fact that the tabs 84, as shown, are relatively small in size of course assists in achieving substantially full visibility for the foot portion of the figure.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGURES '15 and 16, FIGURE 15 showing a doll structure generally designated which comprises a doll body or form 101 generally similar to the bodies or forms 21 and 51 previously illustrated and described, and having a suitable figure 102 depicted on the front face thereof, substantially as in the other embodiments illustrated. A suitable stand construction indicated generally 'at .103 is provided at the bottom portion of the doll structure, and may be 10f any suitable form, as for example the stand arrangement of FIGURES 1 to 4. The doll structure 100 also includes a garment 104, in this case shown as a wide flaring skirt, which is secured to the doll body by means :of tabs 105 and 106 projecting from the periphery of the skirt and bendable into securing engagement with the doll body or form 101. In this instance, a pair of tabs 105 is shown adjacent the waist portion of the skirt, in generally opposed relation, that is, on opposite edge portions of the skirt. These tabs may be of the usual straight formation found on garments as commonly employed with paper dolls, and serve their purpose without any appreciable diificulty because they are substantially perpendicular to the skirt edges on which they are formed, and such skirt edges are substantially parallel and lie relatively close to the waist portion 'of the torso of the doll form 101, so that, when folded to engage behind the doll form, a substantial portion of the tabs engages with the form. This will be evident from FIGURE 15, in which the folded position of the tabs lying behind the doll form 101 is shown in dotted lines, and the outline of the doll form 101 at this portion of the torso is also shown in dotted lines, to illustrate the relationship of the doll form edges and the skirt edges at this general area.

A pair of tabs 106 is also shown as provided on the bottom edge of the skirt 104 to secure the lower edge portion of the skirt and prevent its flapping about loosely, the tabs 106 being intended to extend behind the doll form 101 at the knee portion thereof. It will be apparent from FIGURE that the bottom edge of the skirt extends at a considerable angle, in this case approximately 90, relative to the edges of the doll form 101 adjacent the bottom of the skirt 104. It will be apparent that if the tabs 106 were similar to the tabs 105, that is, if they extended substantially perpendicular to the bottom edge of the skirt and were of a straight configuration they would extend largely parallel to the edge portions of the doll body or form 101 behind which they would be required to engage if the skirt bottom were to be properly held in place. The tabs 106, however, as perhaps best shown in FIGURE :16, are not straight but of a hooked or curved shape in the planes thereof, so that when they are folded along the skirt edge the free ends thereof, as well as the portions adjacent the base thereof adjacent the fold lines will extend behind the doll form 101, as clearly shown in FIG- URE l5, and thus provide the necessary securing engagement of the skirt. It may be pointed out that while the tabs 106 are shown as of curved conformation in their planes, other shapes may be employed such as an angularly olfset configuration, to achieve the same result. It would be possible to provide for securement of the bottom edge of the skirt by the use of straight tabs similar to the tabs 105, but such an arrangement would require that the configuration of the skirt be changed to provide a pair of edge portions from which the tabs would extend, such edge portions being arranged so as to be generally parallel to the edges of the doll form under which the straight tabs were to engage, so that a sufficient engagement between the tabs and the doll form would be achieved to hold the skirt in place. Such a requirement as to the relationship between the edge of a garment or article of clothing with relation to the edge of the dolls body on which the garment is to be secured results in a very con siderable limitation upon the possible designs of clothing which may be provided, and thus unnecessarily limits the variety of garments which may be provided and provides a restriction on the diversity of doll structures which may be employed. By the provision of the hooked tabs 106, such limitations and restrictions are removed and freer scope is given to the skill of the designer of paper doll structures and the greatest possible latitude in the costuming of paper dolls is allowed.

While we have illustrated preferred forms of our invention, it is not our intention to be limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, since modifications thereof may be made and will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art in view of our disclosures.

We claim:

1. For use in connection with paper doll clothing which is adapted to over-lie a paper doll body and be supported thereon by bendable tabs on the periphery of the doll clothing, a paper doll comprising a body portion, retaining means for holding the bendable tabs in clothessupporting position with respect to said body portion,

means for securing the retaining means in underlying relation with said body portion, said body portion including at least one arm portion and related hand portion in freestanding relation to the torso of said body portion, and said retaining means including similar arm and hand portions disposed underlying said arm and hand portions of the body portion, and means detachably connecting the hand portion of the body portion to the hand portion of the retaining means.

2. The paper doll of claim 1, wherein said connecting means comprises an extension on one of the hand portions connectable with the other hand portion.

3. The doll of claim 1, wherein each of the hand portions has an extension connectable with the extension of the other hand portion.

4. The :doll of claim 3, wherein the connectable extensions of the two hand portions are disposed between the hand portions upon connection thereof.

5. The doll of claim 2, wherein the extension is formed on the hand portion of the body portion and has a slit formed therein, and the hand portion of the retaining portion has a mating slit therein, said extension being foldable into underlying relation with the hand portion from which it extends for engagement of said slit therein with the said mating slit.

6. The doll of claim 3, wherein each of the extensions has a slit formed therein, said extensions being foldable into a position between said hand portions with the slits interengaged, whereby the hand portions are held secured together.

7. The .doll of claim 6, wherein distortion of said arm portions is required for interengagement of said slits of the hand portion extensions and the inherent resilience of the arm portions assists in retaining the inter'engaged extensions against separation.

8. In a doll having a first means defining a form, a side edge of which is adapted to have tabs of garments and the like folded thereabout to support the garments on said form, a second means defining a hacker behind said first means including a bottom portion and a side edge, the latter being located generally along said side edge of the first means and free therefrom to engage and retaintabs folded over the edge of the first means and beneath the second means, and stand means for holding the form substantially upright, said stand means comprising interconnecting tab and slot means which secure together the bottom portion of the first and second means and include a pair of spaced wings projectable rearwardly of said first and second means at the bottom thereof and are spaced laterally relative to said interconnecting tab and slot securing means, said wings and bottom portions of the first and second means having bottom edges lying substantially in a common plane generally normal to the plane of said form.

9. In a doll having a first means defining a form, a side edge of which is adapted to have tabs of garments and the like folded thereabourt to support the garments on said form, a second means defining a hacker behind said first means including a bottom portion and a side edge, the latter being located generally along said side edge of the first means and free therefrom to engage and retain tabs folded over the edge of the first means and beneath the second means, and stand means for holding the form substantially upright, said stand means comprising a pair of brace tabs and a pair of wings integral with the bottom portion of the second means and foldable out of the plane thereof, the brass tabs being projectable through slots provided in the bottom edge of the first means and interengaging with the bottom portion of said first means about the slots, and the pair of wings being spaced laterally relative to the brace tabs and projectable rearwardly from said bottom portion of the second means, said brace tabs, wings and bottom portions of the first and second means having their bottom edges disposed substantially in a com- 11 mon plane generally normal to the plane of said first means.

10. The doll of claim 9 in which the brace tabs are located centrally of the bottom portion of the second means and between the wings which are spaced laterally outward relative to the brace tabs.

111. The doll of claim 10 in which the brace tabs are located adjacent the laterally outer ends of the bottom portion of the second means and the wings are located centrally of the said bottom portion of the second means between the wings.

12. In a doll having a first means defining a form, aside edge of which is adapted to have tabs of garments and the like folded thereabout to supportthe garments on said form, a second means defining a backer behind said first means including a bottom portion and a side edge, the latter being located generally along said side edge of the first means and free therefrom to engage and retain tabs folded over the edge of the first means and between the second means, and stand means for holding the form substantially upright, said stand means including a spacer member disposed between said first and second means to space apart said form and backer which they define, said spacer having a horizontal slot and the bottom portion of one of said first and second means includes a tab which interlocks with said slot, said spacer member further having a pair of wings projectable through provided slots in the bottom portion of the other of said first and second means, said wings being spaced laterally relative to said tab means and said wings and bottom portions having their bottom edges lying substantially in a common plane, generally normal to the plane of said form,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 959,655 Tuck May 31, 1910 1,026,624- Ohester May 14, 1912 1,041,917 Waddington Oct. 22, 1912 1,066,769 Waddington July 8, 1913 1,176,637 Anderson Mar. 21, 1916 1,231,145 Ferguson June 26, 1917 11,232,601 Pente July 10, 1917 1,255,677 Wilt Feb. 5, 1918 1,28-5,0'37 Ohance Nov. 19, 1918 2,338,738 Rebholz Ian. '11, 1944 

1. FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH PAPER DOLL CLOTHING WHICH IS ADAPTED TO OVERLIE A PAPER DOLL BODY AND BE SUPPORTED THEREON BY BENDABLE TABS ON THE PERIPHERY OF THE DOLL CLOTHING, A PAPER DOLL COMPRISING A BODY PORTION, RETAINING MEANS FOR HOLDING THE BENDABLE TABS IN CLOTHESSUPPORTING POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID BODY PORTION, MEANS FOR SECURING THE RETAINING MEANS IN UNDERLYING RELATION WITH SAID BODY PORTION, SAID BODY PORTION INCLUDING 